FreeGeek Central Florida

Greenpeace publishes an annual Guide to Greener Electronics, detailing their favorites for greenest companies of the yearas well as those on the other end of the spectrum. What’s the opposite of green? Anyway, here are some of the selections from the 2009 edition, published back in January of 2010. An update was published in May of this year.Apple was congratulated for removing polyvinyl chlorides (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from its products two years ahead of other companies’ schedules. PVC produces dioxins, a dangerous byproduct, during manufacture and incineration, and BFRs have shown strong evidence of contaminating wildlife and individuals.Nokia, along with Sony Ericsson, has also worked on lowering and removing the amount of harmful substances in its devices. Nokia also offers one of the best takeback programs among mobile phone producers. Its program is operated in 84 different countries. However, these programs are only as successful as they are popular, and most people are either unaware of the option or unmotivated to send in their old phones.Dell, Lenovo, LG Electronics, and Samsung were criticized by Greenpeace for not meeting their promises to remove dangerous materials. Since April, Samsung phones and MP3 players have been free of PVC and BFRs, and in an updated guide Samsung was 13^th out of 18 leading manufacturers. Apple, meanwhile, had been pushed back to fifth, while Nokia and Sony Ericsson remain at the head of the pack.